


Look at that big hand move along

by dodger_chan



Series: personal overwatch canon [10]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-09
Updated: 2018-11-09
Packaged: 2019-08-20 22:53:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16564685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dodger_chan/pseuds/dodger_chan
Summary: McCree's decided to fight Talon. Genji doesn't think he can.





	Look at that big hand move along

**Author's Note:**

> No, I'm not using Overwatch to avoid my NaNo project. Why would you ask that?
> 
> Title comes from the them of the film "High Noon," a movie about duty and loyalty. 
> 
> Today's Personal Overwatch Canon:  
> 1) McCree made Genji watch his favorite film, "A Fistful of Dollars," when they were in Balckwatch. It convinced Genji that all westerns were uncredited remakes of superior Japanese films.  
> 2) McCree took not only his fashion sense from westerns, but also his sense of morals/ethics.  
> 3) Genji's robot parts have effected his diet.

     The monks were not nervous, precisely, when they noticed a lone human male camping just outside the monastery's grounds. They were simply aware of the fact that humans who sought them out were looking to find meaning, either in Shambali wisdom or in the destruction of the Omnics. And this stranger had not approached any of the monks. So, while they had no fear, they did not object when Genji was the one who went out to talk to the man.  
     “Figured it was better to let you come to me.” It was good to hear Jesse's drawl. He would not have thought that it would be so.  
     “Even an American should know the difference between a monastery and an armed encampment.” He did not ask how Jesse knew where to find him.  
      “They're still Omnics. Don't need to be armed to kill a man.” Technically correct, and part of the reason the monastery was located in the mountains of Nepal. Humans and Omnics living in close proximity was often tense. No one wished to spark another conflict.  
     “Does that mean you don't want to come in for tea?” Genji was probably not going to like whatever Jesse had to say, but there was no reason to make the man say it in the cold.  
     “I suppose, if that's all you got on offer.” Jesse stood and picked up his gun.  
     “Omnics do not eat or drink. Be glad there is tea.” Genji himself still required such things, though his digestive system was no longer capable of handling them in the conventional way. He had mostly stopped missing it.  
     “Talon's causing trouble.” Genji smiled internally. Jesse hadn't even waited to get inside the building before talking.  
     “That is what they do.” It was what they had been doing since the Crisis ended. During it, too, though then they had been the lesser threat.  
     “But now their doing it using Blackwatch tactics.” That was different. And disturbing. Genji stopped walking and turned to face Jesse.  
     “I am not working with Talon.” It was automatic and unnecessary denial. If Jesse had believed Genji had joined the terrorist group he would have skipped conversation and led with shooting.  
     “Didn't say you were.” Jesse grinned, probably thinking the same thing. “Not your style. Least it wasn't back when. You do seem to have changed some.”  
     “I have changed,” Genji agreed. He resumed his walk to the kitchen.  
     The kitchen in the monastery was large and old, a relic of a time when human monks had made up its entire population. Genji moved the kettle to the old fashioned electric stove with its antiquated coils. The tea was in single serve bags, the cups mismatched western-style mugs. Nothing like the set he remembered from his father's office. His brother probably had the set now. Appropriate. Hanzo had always had a greater appreciation for such things. Jesse did not drink his tea. He cradled the mug gently in both hands, ignoring the handle.  
     “Talon got to one of ours.” Jesse addressed the cup. “Only way I can figure it.”  
     “Commander Reyes was American military. I'm sure much of what he taught us, he learned there.” Genji hadn't known most of his fellow operatives, but even so he did not like the idea of one of them siding with the enemy. Jesse shook his head slowly.  
     “No, most of what he taught us he developed himself. Based it off his training,sure, but what he learned in the army relied too much on everyone involved being just plain human. Least that's how Gabi explained it.” Jesse used the familiar nickname for Commander Reyes. “It's our guys, our moves being used on civilians.”  
     Jesse put his mug down between them and looked up, making a good attempt at eye contact. It was an expectant look. Genji sighed. A cup of tea would have been a useful prop to buy time. At least he no longer needed to mask his expression.  
     “You cannot stop Talon on your own.”  
     “I know.” Jesse's tone was agreeable. “Way I see it, we took a job to take out Talon. Them using our tactics, that's just a more personal reason to finish it.”  
     “I cannot do what you are asking.”  
     “Bullshit.” Jesse's drawl dragged the word out.  
     “You came here because you need a killer. But I am not that man anymore.” Genji stood. “ I cannot be that man anymore.”  
     “Our guys make it our responsibility.”  
     “Perhaps. But it is a responsibility I cannot shoulder.” It was difficult to say the words aloud. So different from thinking it in his head. “Learning to be someone else is not an easy thing. I am at peace with the man I am. If I return to who I was, I do not think I will find that peace again.”  
     Jesse inhaled, preparing to speak, but instead exhaled and shook his head. “Well, if you can't help, you can't.”  
     Something felt a little off. Jesse had never been the sort of give up easily. Genji watched carefully as Jesse stood, turned around, and walked towards the kitchen exit. Just before the door he paused, and Genji noticed a telling shift in Jesse's shoulders.  
     Inside the monastery, Genji had no need for weapons. He had thrown out his shuriken long ago. He hadn't been able to do the same with his katana, though it remained sheathed and wrapped in a blanket under his bed. But, as his brother had taught him long ago, a Shimada was never truly unarmed. Genji picked up the half-full mug and threw it at Jesse, striking the man's arm and causing him to release his grip on his pistol. With Omnic-like reflexes, Genji was across the room after it, one metal forearm pressed against Jesse's throat, his other hand on top of Jesse's holster, holding the gun down in case Jesse tried to draw again. But Jesse's hands were open, raised to eye level. Only the smirk on his face kept him from looking helpless.  
     “Not so changed as you thought, I guess.” It wasn't possible to blood to rush in Genji's ears anymore. He couldn't take deep calming breaths either. Genji stepped slightly backwards, giving them both a little more space.  
     “Take your samurai-ripoff bullshit and fuck off, McCree.” The words came out with a little more growl than intended. Genji had spent years learning to let go of anger. He would not be the killer again. Not for Jesse McCree, not for anyone.  
      “Can't break the mold, Genji. You've got to be who you are.” Jesse backed slowly out of the room, then turn around and strolled down the hall, apparently unconcerned with what he'd left standing behind him. He raised his left arm in a casual wave. “Be seein' you.”  
     Genji watched the closed door for several minutes. Joining Jesse would have been impossible, but doing nothing did not feel right either. Perhaps Zenyatta would be able offer some advice.

**Author's Note:**

> McCree paraphrases the film "Shane" when he talks about not breaking molds. Because really his entire worldview is filtered through westerns.
> 
> If anyone's curious, the films I had in mind while writing this are High Noon(1952), Shane(1953), and The Magnificent Seven (1960).


End file.
